Its chairman, Dzulkefly Ahmad also said that if a movement control order is indeed implemented, “we could just be sitting around”.

“During such a period, we would need to increase mass testing,” he said in a joint press conference with Selangor executive councillor for public health Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud.

“We don’t want a lockdown like the first one,” he said referring to the first movement control order which was implemented in March last year.

“Instead, we can have a lockdown that is more targeted and effective and minimises the adverse impact on the rakyat’s livelihood, on the economy and school children.”

The former health minister said that besides the matrix of daily cases, in which Selangor is the worst, there were three other matrixes, namely infectivity, mortality and incidence rate per 100,000 population that need to be considered.

Earlier this week, health minister Dr Adham Baba said the health ministry was considering enforcing stricter SOPs or even a full-scale MCO in Selangor if the state fails to curb the spread of Covid-19.

He was asked why the MCO rules in Selangor were the same as in other states, despite its higher number of infections.

Dzulkefly said any decision to enforce a full MCO must not be made solely based on the daily Covid-19 numbers alone.

“If the government wanted to look at statistics, they should use incidences per 100,000 population and deaths per one million population.

“Based on those data as provided by the health ministry, Selangor is at number four in the entire country.”

Dzulkefly added that the ultimate purpose of an MCO was to increase hospital capacity and ensure that it must not be overwhelmed.

“Numbers will always be high and higher in Selangor.

“However, are our hospitals that overburdened now? The minister of health has said we are not. Hence, we must be careful to minimise the total impact on livelihood and also of our economy if we are to enforce a crude, blunt and draconian lockdown”

He noted that the Selangor health department was already expecting up to 1,600 additional hospital beds, with 300 beds designated for intensive care units (ICUs).

He again asked that the government seriously consider the economic impact of a full lockdown on the people, especially those in informal sectors and daily wage earners of the low-income group (B-40).

Meanwhile, Siti said she understood why some were against a total lockdown, adding many were concerned that it would impact their lives.

“I had people approaching me, pleading against another lockdown. ‘What are we going to eat?’ they would ask me.”

She also said it was unfair to blame the Selangor state government for the surge in cases.

“We are not blaming anybody but we do have a problem with the policy.”

She said the state government’s function in health issues was complementary to that of the federal government.

“We cannot go against policies set by the health ministry. We have proposed a few things that were not accepted (by the health ministry),” she said.

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